


Technical Difficulties

by grizzlegreertrash



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: A little something extra at the end, Comedy, F/M, I finally wrote Inojin for once, My titles suck please forgive me, No Romance, Sai being an understanding father while also sharing a braincell with his son, based on art, just family fluff, yamanaka family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26162728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grizzlegreertrash/pseuds/grizzlegreertrash
Summary: Right on cue, her husband peaked into the room. What he had witnessed was an utter catastrophe. 6 ink mice crawling across her body and she was understandably horrified.A Yamanaka family oneshot based on a piece of art by sugarriene
Relationships: Sai/Yamanaka Ino
Kudos: 37





	Technical Difficulties

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome back to "scenarios that trap me and keep me from writing anything else!" This time, we have a one shot inspired by art from fandom friend @sugarriene on twitter. After it was posted two days ago, I started writing, but life kind of caught up to me a bit with school starting, health issues being prolonged, and work not letting up. Today I decided to give up and take a mental health day from class, giving me plenty of time to finish. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Right on cue, her husband peaked into the room. What he had witnessed was an utter catastrophe. 6 ink mice crawling across her body and she was understandably horrified.

“What’s wro-” “Ah. I see...”

“SAI! DON’T JUST STAND THERE! FIX THIS!”

“Uh…” He stuttered, proving he was just as useless in handling this as she expected. “A-as much as I would like to assist you, I am unable to control them. These are not made of my chakra.” Of course they weren’t his! Sai wasn’t the type to pull pranks like this. And even if it wasn’t a joke, he had a much better handle with his ink. There was only one other person who could be responsible. 

“INOJI-mmmmph” Her husband’s hand swiftly covered her mouth to muffle her. She had an inkling of an idea to bite it.

“Don’t do that.” “If his concentration breaks, your clothes will be stained.” As rude as Sai was being, he did have a point. She would prefer it not get any worse than it could be, or else her son would be in for a lot more trouble than he anticipated. Perhaps it was just a mistake. It better be a mistake or she would make sure that the boy wished he hadn’t learned to use that brush in the first place.

His deft fingers gently scooped up two of the mice from her shoulders. The unrestrained gesture would typically make her stutter and blush at his forwardness, but in her current predicament all she could do is stand there holding back a yelp. “Just sit tight. I will handle this.” 

With that, her husband swiftly left the room, leaving her alone with only her son’s animated mice to keep her company. Ino had nothing more to truly fear. She could trust Sai to fix this. It was his expertise, afterall. Maybe this time her husband would actually act like a father for once and discipline their son. She inwardly sighed; That was a long shot for sure, but she could only hope. 

* * *

Inojin knew he messed up. And his fate had been sealed the moment he heard his mother’s shrill scream from down the hall. 

_He was dead_

_He was so dead_

He had always been instructed by mom to only practice the Choujuu Giga outside, but it had been raining. Dad had advised him (without mom’s knowledge of course) so that he could successfully practice indoors in the safety of his room as long as the door had been shut. And to his misfortune, he forgot the step regarding the closed door. At least he had solace that his father would also be punished. If she realized that they had conspired like this from under her nose than they would both be in for it. 

The mouse perched upon his head turned towards the door with him when he heard his father’s footsteps approach his room

“Dad”

“You’ve lost control.” He fully entered the room, closing the door behind him with his foot until it was only slightly open. He had an ink mouse in each of his hands, struggling against the pressure of his grip. 

He chuckled nervously. “You noticed?” 

His father was never one to raise his voice, but he did express his disapproval through soft sighs and furrowed brows. He was already aware of how much trouble he was going to get into with mom. 

“Do you know what caused this?”

Inojin shrugged “I don’t know how it happened, but I was fine until mom called for me.” His head dropped and the mouse tumbled to the floor, splattering into black ink onto the wood. So much for keeping tidy. “Then a bunch of them escaped.” He looked timidly back up to his father. “She found them, didn’t she.”

“Oh she found them pretty well actually. I plucked these ones right from her body.” Inojin’s stomach lurched. He was worse off than he initially thought. Dad looked down at the mice in his hands. His thumbs had secured their heads, calming their struggles down. “These drawings do not have a mind of their own, nor are they entirely mindless.” He crouched beside Inojin, setting the mice onto his scroll. He was surprised that they didn’t scamper off like before. They only sat there looking up at him. “They are an extension of your will, Inojin. They rely on you to move, so one little distraction may change their direction entirely. You must remember this.”

He did remember. Dad had been telling him that for years, ever since he was young. But here he is now, still making the same mistakes as he did when he was 5. How was he supposed to get any better at this rate? His frustration stirred within him and the mice sitting on the scroll began to tremble and distort. They were going to break at this point, and it would all be over and mom would come for both of them. His father’s hand came to rest on his shoulder, the tension built up in his body slowly releasing. “Mistakes are bound to happen, though. You are still learning.” Dad’s smile was warm and encouraging, something that Inojin couldn’t help but reciprocate.

“You lost control like this too, right?” 

The smile hadn’t faltered. “Of course I did. The Choujuu Giga was something I mastered on my own, so I made plenty of mistakes. In fact, I did something like this to my brother as well.” Inojin’s curiosity piqued at the mention of his uncle. His father’s sworn brother had tragically died years before he had been born. 

“What happened?”

His father’s smile began to shift, pursing his lips as if he had been holding back a laugh. “I had drawn a snake, and when I wasn’t paying attention, it constricted him until it burst. He was completely coated in ink!” Telling the story alone was enough to free his laughter. It was a sight to behold, as he was usually very slow with humor. It must’ve been a cherished memory for him. “Anyway, I hardly saw him the rest of the week. He was probably too angry with me to talk, but I’m sure he found it as funny as I did.”

Inojin gave a worthless sniff, gluing his eyes to the scroll in front of him. The mice retained their shape, now crawling towards him. “I think you were too concerned with what Mom wanted, so they decided to figure it out for themselves. And now all you have to do is fear her wrath.” Inojin’s fingers shot up into a sign and the mice immediately scurried back to him.

* * *

The misunderstanding was eventually cleared after numerous apologies and pleas to Mom. She didn’t kill him like he envisioned, but that didn’t mean he was completely in the clear.

Although Dad did talk her down to a week, his video games would still be confiscated. Probably locked in the same place as his father’s expensive paints for hiding from her. 

* * *

“Your clothes are stained.” The imposing presence of Danzou-sama stood before him. “Why is that?” His question barely above a whisper, drenched in suspicion. But he could already tell from his half-lidded gaze that he wasn’t impressed.

But then again, he wasn’t impressed by much...

The white haired boy stood relaxed, his eyes to one of the many trees that surrounded them. Anything was better than looking directly at him. “We were sparring. He lost control and now I’m covered in ink.” 

  
The sounds of calming wooded atmosphere was drowned out by his master’s silence

“Look at me” His voice was still no louder than it had been before, but held a commanding power that struck fear into the boy’s heart. He forced his gaze up. 

“A loss of control is not something I tolerate.” His hand moved to reach towards his bandaged eye...

“No! Please don’t punish him. He’s getting there, he just needs more practice.” The boy pleaded. Realizing that this was out of line, he swiftly bowed. “Please, forgive us!” His brother was still too young and inexperienced. He’d hate for him to receive their master’s swift hand over a simple accident. 

“Very well. But I best not bare witness to such a sight ever again, or there will be consequences for the both of you. Although you may believe you are noble in taking the blame for his mistakes, it is actually a foolish endeavor.”

The boy’s eyes widened and panic set in his chest as Danzou-sama turned to trudge his way back into the forest. And just before he thought he was safe enough to catch his breath, the man halted his steps. “You know that there is no room for weak shinobi in my ranks.” He turned his head slightly around, the atmosphere intensifying. “And If he so much as passes without meeting my standards, I will do everything in my power to make sure your death is insignificant.”

And with that, Danzou-sama was gone in a cloud of smoke.

The boy’s knees buckled beneath his weight, collapsing into a seated position. Gasping for air, his lungs felt ablaze. He couldn’t restrain the coughing fit that ravaged his body, grasping tightly at his ink-stained shirt. 

_as much as he wanted to persuade himself that he was fine._

_He was still able to keep up with his master’s demands._

_He was still able to live with his brother without fear of what was to come._

He gritted his teeth. That wicked man still held them firmly within his control, his brother knowing not of what truly awaited him. Soon his brother would be all alone and forced to bear the weight of Danzou-sama’s will. His brother had to be prepared for that burden or else he could never truly be free. 

**Author's Note:**

> SURPRISE! ANGST! You can't tell, but I'm cackling very maniacally right now. I actually wrote the bonus section before I wrote the rest of the fic, which is just because I didn't want to forget the dialogue that formed in my head as I was driving home from class that day. When I started filling in from the start, I noticed a few parallels I was drawing on between the two parts.
> 
> Anyway, I do have a few headcanons to expand upon here:
> 
> 1\. Sai was a very late bloomer with his talents, which disappointed Danzou constantly. He believed that he would be the one that would perish during the final exam.
> 
> 2\. Danzou punished his kids by using the Sharingan to put them under torturous genjutsu. This is why he is seen reaching for his bandage.
> 
> 3\. Shin often took the fall for Sai when he failed to meet Danzou's expectations, which was frequent. To this day, Sai doesn't completely realize how much punishment was taken from him.
> 
> 4\. The Choujuu Giga was not taught to Sai. The technique of infusing ink had been found on the walls of an abandoned temple that so happened to have been discovered by Sai at a young age during an assignment. Interested, he showed Danzou to the temple, who gave him permission to master the jutsu himself, having hopes that it could be used well for him. Sai was essentially a test subject for the jutsu.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. And please be patient with me. This time has been quite stressful for me and I'm not sure as to how much writing I can get done with my schedule being like this.
> 
> Comments and criticism is always welcome
> 
> See ya,  
> -Saikage (grizzlegreertrash)


End file.
